Not Applicable
Not Applicable
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improved personal or industrial credit-card sized data storage and retrieval systems, and more particularly to a system in which the data is recorded and read optically.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typical credit and debit cards have a magnetized strip on one side that contains individualized information, such as the cardholders account number, identity data, and possibly an account balance and other information useful for the transactions to be performed with the card. Magnetic strips read by conventional card readers are limited in information-storing capacity to about 1kilobyte, or less than one page of text. Limited storage capacity bars use of the conventional credit card magnetic strip for storage of large amounts of data such as medical records, including X-rays, medicine dosages and allergy histories, and anti-forgery and fraud personal identifiers such as digitized signatures, photo identifications, and country or building exit and entry records.
More recently, hard disk drive technology (HDD) has been adapted to card reading. Use of a different type of recording head enables writing magnetic data over a larger portion of the card disk, and at a higher density so that several megabytes of data can be stored and retrieved using circular or X-Y raster formats. The likelihood of data interruption or loss through dirt accumulation or accidental demagnification, however, plagues these newer cards as much as the older, lower capacity cards, when there is proximity to degaussers used in some industries as recording heads, adjacency to other magnetized cards in a wallet, or chance encountering of commonplace magnets such as those in car starter motors and electric door solenoids or at retail counters. This newer technology will enable some of the larger data capacity applications noted above to become reality, but the problem of vulnerability remains, exacerbated by the greater amount of information possibly lost.
X-Y reading of the increased capacity data storage is problematical. The signal available from the magnetized data is proportional to the relative velocity between the reading head and the data disk, Thus, the need to start and stop the reading head at the end of each row or column will slow velocities and cause low signal amplitudes.
The invention utilizes rewritable CD technology in a card form to achieve the stated benefits. U.S. Pat. No. 4,547,875 to Ohta, U.S. Pat. No. 5,569,038 to Nagashima, U.S. Pat. No. 5,986,997 to Challener, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,298 to Fischer teach various optical recording and reading devices and methods, but none treat of credit card size media devices, or X-Y patterning of tracks on such media.
It is an object of the invention, therefore, to provide a credit card-sized data storage and retrieval system in which the data is stored and read optically, using a laser, to have greatly increased storage capacity, and to avoid inadvertent loss of data from accidental demagnetization. It is a further object of the invention to provide an optical card writing and reading system in which the card is stationary and the laser is moved relative thereto, e.g. in an X-Y pattern or on an angular path, or in which the card is moved in an X-Y pattern or rotated below a laser moving in a radial (including parallel to radial) direction or in which the laser is stationary and the card moves.
These and other objects of the invention to become apparent hereinafter are realized in the optical data card and reader system for recording data in which the card has approximately the dimensions of a credit card, the system including a card having a laser readable layer comprising plural tracks of light-detectable indicia arranged in a pattern, and a laser reader adapted to scan the tracks, the laser reader being mounted for scanning the tracks.
In a particular embodiment, the system includes a card having a laser readable layer comprising plural tracks of light-detectable indicia arranged in an X-Y grid, a card mount, and a laser reader adapted to scan the tracks of the card in the card mount, the laser reader being mounted for scanning the tracks in an X-Y pattern.
In this and like embodiments, typically, the card mount is fixed relative to the laser, the laser being shiftable across the card in registration with the X-Y tracks of the grid in scanning relation, or the laser is fixed relative to the card mounted in the card mount, the card mount shifting the card in an X-Y pattern for scanning by the laser.
In a further embodiment, an optical data card and reader system for recording data is provided in which the card has approximately the dimensions of a credit card, the system including a card having a laser readable layer comprising plural tracks of light-detectable indicia arranged in an angular pattern, a card mount, and a laser reader adapted to scan the tracks, the laser reader being mounted for scanning the tracks.
In this and like embodiments, typically, the card mounted in the card mount rotates, the laser being shiftable on a radial path across the card for scanning radially adjacent card tracks, or the card in the card mount is stationary relative to the laser, the laser being shiftable on a circular path for scanning the tracks.